Bounkham “Bou Bou” Phonesavanh was just 19 months old when a SWAT
team in Habersham County, Georgia, initiated a no-knock warrant
at his family’s home around 3 a.m. in the morning. Bou Bou was
asleep in his crib at the time, surrounded by his family and
three sisters, but was severely injured when SWAT team officers
broke through the house’s door and threw a flashbang grenade that
ultimately landed in the baby’s crib.

When the stun grenade went off, it caused severe burns on the
child and opened up a gash in his chest. As a result, the Bou Bou
lost the ability to breathe on his own and is still fighting to
make it through a medically induced coma. He was scheduled for
surgery on Monday, but a fever delayed the operation.

According to the Associated Press, the family is now pushing for
a federal investigation into the raid. Meanwhile, Habersham
County District Attorney Brian Rickman told the news service that
his office is currently looking into whether criminal charges
will be imposed on any of the officers involved.

"Anytime you look at pictures of a child injured like that,
it's awful," Rickman said. "Everybody's heart goes out
to the family. We've just got to do our job here."

The incident has also called into question the use of no-knock
warrants, which permit law enforcement officials to conduct raids
without warning those inside of their presence. Despite
statements by Habersham County Sheriff Joey Terrell suggesting
the raid was authorized, Rickman stated this was not the case,
and that the Georgia Bureau of Investigation had not approved the
raid either.

One state senator, Vincent Fort, said he will ask the US
Attorney’s Office to get involved with an investigation of its
own.

"At this point when you look at these pictures, when you hear
what was done, the public's confidence in the district attorney
to conduct an objective investigation — the public's confidence
in that is nil, it's gone, it's not there," he told the AP.

As RT reported previously, the SWAT conducted the raid as
part of an effort to apprehend Wanis Thometheva, believed to be
selling methamphetamine. Police said that their records indicated
the suspect could be armed, and that a confidential informant had
successfully purchased drugs from him earlier in the day. At the
time of the raid, however, Thometheva was not at the home, and
was eventually arrested elsewhere.

Additionally, an unnamed public official told the Washington Post
that the reported drug deal was worth only $50.

Police stated they did not know children were inside the house,
but Bou Bou’s mother, Alecia Phonesavanh, said that was unlikely
if they had valid information on their suspect.

“If they had an informant in that house, they knew there were
kids,” Phonesavanh told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Friday. “They say there were no toys. There is plenty of
stuff. Their shoes were laying all over.”

The family’s attorney, Mawuli Mel Davis, also criticized police
for lax surveillance methods, but sheriff Terrell said the family
knew Thometheva was involved with drugs and that complicated the
situation for the agency’s informants.

“They [told us they] knew that the homeowner's son was
selling meth, so they kept the children out of sight in a
different room while any of these going-ons were happening,"
Terrell said. "So when [our confidential informants] did go
up and buy drugs at the house, they didn't see any evidence of
children in the home."

The Phonesvanh family said it was not involved with drugs at all,
and was only staying with Thometheva because their Wisconsin home
was damaged in a fire. At the time of the raid, they were making
plans to move back to Wisconsin.